All throughout his campaign, candidate Obama insisted he would be about a “new-tone” in Washington…bi-partisan approaches…open and ethical government…meetings televised on C-Span. All throughout 2009, Team Obama did NONE OF THOSE THINGS. In referring to Republicans, Team Obama’s team captain repeatedly made statements similar to “Why would we have those who created the problem help solve the problem?” Next came the closed meetings, back-room deal making, voting before reading the bills, etc.

And then the earthquake. No – not the tragic one in Haiti – the one in Massachusetts. The deepest, darkest of “blue states” voted a Republican into Ted Kennedy’s seat. My faith in Americans everywhere was restored. When the country needed them, the independent voters in Massachusetts stepped up and threw off the BLUE stranglehold, and restored some much needed sanity back into the political fray.The hard-core left, of course, blamed the local candidate for not trying hard enough. But Obama seems to have taken notice:

“President Barack Obama advised fellow Democrats against trying to jam a health care bill through Congress after taking a devastating hit from the loss of a Senate seat. He said Wednesday it’s time to come together around a bill that can draw Republican support, too.”

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9DBMHA00&show_article=1

While the rest of Team Obama is running around trying to do damage control, it seems the President himself might be starting to get the message. I remain cynical, for now. Obama’s entire history suggests he is incapable of governing from the center…but with his poll numbers tanking faster than both the economy and his health care legacy, he now says it is time to let the Republicans sit at the negotiating table. Is it because of two devastating earthquakes in one week, or is he simply becoming the “Panderer-in-Chief”…???